Unfortunately, there is a hitch in the gameplay that stems from the Dynasty Warriors formula itself. You see, no matter what you do, you will inevitably be the strongest thing in the battlefield because you have a human intelligence. This alone is enough to exploit enemy A.I. and cut through peons like a hot sword through soldiers made of butter. Dynasty Warriors was developed to make you feel like a powerful warrior of the ages, writing history with your footsteps on the battlefield and, to be fair, it does make you feel that way. But because so much of your army’s might is centered on you, the player character, you can easily get neglectful in your officer duties in the simulation portion.

Another problem is the difficulty curve. At the beginning of the game you can easily take on armies of two or even three times your size without any real threat. But toward the middle and end of the game, the difficulty ramps up rather sharply. On one hand, this makes you pay attention to the simulation elements a bit more, but on the other hand it makes a lot of your deaths feel “cheap.”

There’s only one real mode in Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires: the campaign. You won’t find time attack or any of the other standard Dynasty Warriors modes here, and that’s partially because they are represented in the campaign itself. Simple skirmishes ask you to kill anything that moves, while more important missions will give you objectives centered around defeating enemy officers and capturing specific areas of the map.

There are a couple evolutions to the gameplay system that are worth mentioning. Different actions in the simulation portion of the game will give you access to stratagems, which are essentially instant effects that can change the tide of battle. The two-weapon gameplay of Dynasty Warriors 7 returns, as does the ability to respawn generals at the cost of troops. The game does feature a few new characters and weapons, and you can issue orders to your generals in the middle of battle, though you’ll frequently find yourself neglecting this. You can also play the game cooperatively with a friend, though they’ll have no say in the simulation portions.

Overall, Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires is fun, but it sometimes feels like it doesn’t really know its audience. The strategy portions are deeper than you find in most action games but shallower than an actual sim game. Meanwhile, the action portions are fun, but they paled in comparison to, say, Warriors Orochi 3.

If you are a fan of Dynasty Warriors, especially the Empires series, then by all means pick up the game. However, as I mentioned earlier, there are lots of Dynasty Warriors to choose from, and if you are looking for a more traditional experience, you might want to stray away from the Empires series.

ByAngelo M. D’Argenio
Contributing Writer
Date: March 1, 2013

RATING OUT OF 5

RATING DESCRIPTION

3.7

GraphicsThe graphics are solid, no better or worse than other Dynasty Warriors titles.

3.8

ControlThe controls are actually really tight. Of course, you’ll usually be button mashing, but if you want to play more strategically you can.